- Ibn al-Banna al-Marrakushi
Ibn al-Banna al-Marrakushi al-
Azd i also known as Abu'l-Abbas Ahmad ibn Muhammad ibn Uthman al-Azdi. (Arabic : ابن البنّا) [29) December 1256 – c. 1321) was anArab mathematician andastronomer . The Al-Marrakushi crater, on theMoon , is named after him.Biography
Al-Banna, the son of an architect, was born in
Marrakesh in 1256G. Sarton: Introduction to the History of Science; The Carnegie Institution; Washington; 1927; vol 2; p. 998.] .Having learned basic mathematical and geometrical skills he proceeded to translateEuclid 's Elements intoArabic G. Sarton: Introduction to the History of Science; The Carnegie Institution; Washington; 1927; vol 2; p. 998.] .Works
Al-Banna wrote between 51 to 74 treatises, encompassing such varied topics as
Algebra ,Astronomy ,Linguistics ,Rhetoric , andLogic . One of his works, called "Talkhis amal al-hisab (Arabic , تلخيص عمل الحساب ) (Summary of arithmetical operations)", includes topics such as fractions, sums of squares and cubes etc. Another, called "Tanbih al-Albab" [A Djebbar: Mathematics in medieval Maghreb; AMUCHMA-Newsletter 15; Universidade Pedagógico (UP), Maputo (Mozambique), 15.9.1995.] , covers topics related to:*calculations regarding the drop in irrigation canal levels,
*arithmetical explanation of theMuslim laws of inheritance
*determination of the hour of theAsr prayer,
*explanation of frauds linked to instruments of measurement,
*enumeration of delayed prayers which have to be said in a precise order,and
*calculation of legal tax in the case of a delayed paymentYet another work by al-Banna was "Raf al-Hijab (Lifting the Veil)" which included topics such as computing
square roots of a number and theory ofcontinued fractions .G. Sarton: Introduction to the History of Science; The Carnegie Institution; Washington; 1927; vol 2; p. 998.] This work was also the first mathematical work sinceBrahmagupta to use an algebraic notation, which was then further developed by his successorAbū al-Hasan ibn Alī al-Qalasādī two centuries later. [MacTutor|id=Al-Banna|title=al-Marrakushi ibn Al-Banna]References
Bibliography
*Ahmed Jabbar and Mohammed Ablagh : "Life and Works of Ibn al-Banaa al-Murrakushi", Publication of the Faculty of Letters, Rabat, 2001
ee also
*
List of Arab scientists and scholars External links
*MacTutor Biography|id=Al-Banna|title=al-Marrakushi ibn Al-Banna
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